Wind Energy - Can There Be Too Much Of A Good Thing?

The Conference Board of Canada just published its report on 'International Experience with Implementing Wind Energy'. The report makes an overview of current knowledge on wind energy:

• wind energy is becoming competitive in some regions, primarily driven by cost reductions, better technology and improved siting


• developing wind energy requires a variety of policy instruments


• public opinion is favourable in the abstract, but a NIMBY syndrome pops often up for concrete projects (NIMBY = not in my backyard)

Intermittency is becoming the single biggest challenge for the sector, as the penetration of wind energy increases. The integration of wind energy into the electricity system brings additional costs:

• balancing cost: thermal power stations deviate from their original production schedule due to the increase variability of the load (where unbuffered use of wind power is seen as negative load)
  backup capacity needs to be available to supply electricity when there is no wind


• reinforcement of transmission and distribution grids, and a lot of good wind sites are found in areas with weak grids


• Estimates for these costs vary among various studies between 5% and 40% of generation costs, and further understanding in this field is needed.

The report also expresses a concern that the integration of wind without buffer affects system stability beyond a certain point. Experiences in Denmark and Germany indicate this thresholds might be around 20%. Beyond that, integration costs would tend to increase with increasing wind use.

Wind energy has grown significantly over the past 1.5 decades in 4 countries (Denmark, Germany, Spain US), primarily with policy support. The technology is now becoming competitive in certain regions. But intermittency, siting and distance to load limit its potential.

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The full report is freely available after registration from the website of the Conference Board of Canadahttp://www.conferenceboard.ca/Boardwiseii/LayoutAbstract.asp?DID=1537

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Passive Solar Energy - Is It Right For Your Home?

Every exposed part of a structure's walls, floors, windows, roofs' absorbs and stores or reflects away the heat radiated by the sun. Passive solar systems do this without any mechanical means (pumps or fans); they rely purely on design and positioning to work, which may include shutters or thermal curtains, dampers and vents, or other simple mechanisms.

While passive solar setups are rarely used as bulk collection units, the concepts behind passive solar have changed the way many architects and engineers approach designs. They are beginning to make profitable use of the sun's free energy by using to their advantage one or more of these principles: conduction (heat flows from molecule to molecule in solids; this explains why the handle of your tea cup will eventually be warmed by the hot tea in the bowl), convection (heat also flows through liquids and gases; this explains why you might swelter in the attic and shiver in the basement heat rises), radiation (warm objects radiate heat away to cooler objects, which absorb it, reflect it, or transmit it along), and capacitance (this is a measure of how much heat a material will retain over time, and is a function of thermal mass).

Passive solar systems are used for space heating more often than active systems (see below). The most heat gains (in the northern hemisphere) come from windows oriented due south, but any window within 30 degrees of that will show significant gains. The challenge, of course, it to avoid overheating a space, a problem that can easily occur in rooms with substantial glass surface area facing south. The contained heat can be redistributed relatively easily with ceiling or other fans, or by making use of the blower and duct systems (with the heating elements off) of a standard furnace. Installing flooring with high thermal mass such as stone or tile can also absorb and store the heat to be radiated later when the ambient temperature becomes cooler than the floor. A well-constructed, well-insulated building with high-performance, airtight windows can generally meet up to a quarter of its own heating needs using passive solar strategies. That, along with its next-to-nothing operating cost, clean operation, and simple maintenance makes it a natural for any structure.

Passive solar power cooling
This is more about reducing heat build-up than about taking it away. The obvious technology involved has been used for thousands of years: shading. You can do this with shutters, awnings, special smart windows(discussed later), curtains, and landscaping. Cross-ventilation will distribute the heat more evenly.

Building considerations
Even minor application of these basic principles can make a big difference in the overall climate control of a structure. Imagine that you have a room with large windows facing south. If you are in the northern hemisphere, that would mean that sunlight would shine into it all day. The windows are old clear glass, single-pane windows, which allow 80 to 90 percent of the heat to pass directly into the room. Now imagine that the sun coming in strikes a dark floor; this absorbs 40 to 95 percent of the heat. Obviously, that room will become extremely hot during the day. Depending on its intended use, this may be a good thing. The heat will flow from there, slowly but surely, into adjacent cooler spaces a process that can be accelerated, of course, with fan systems. Remember, though, that since the heat does travel to cooler areas, at night it may leak back out those same inefficient windows to the outside unless you block the windows with some sort of thermal barrier.

Windows today are far different from those drafty single-pane versions in our grandparents houses. Most new windows are constructed with two or even three panes (that is, they are double- or tripled-glazed), with insulating spacers and or inert gases between the panes, and have low-e (low-emittance) coatings of metal or metallic oxides that that reflect back much of the sun's heat without significantly reducing the light allowed in.

Additionally, there are also so-called smart windows, which use varying technologies (electrochromic, suspended particles, liquid crystal) to alter a window's transmissive properties. Since these are operated electronically, one could debate whether they are active or passive, but that's just semantics; the point is, they exist, and they work.

In addition to optimal window placement, another way engineers, architects and even homeowners can use passive solar to greater advantage is through window pitch. Most windows are installed so that their surfaces and exactly vertical. It is possible, however, to calculate a different angle that will allow a more desirable amount of heat and light to penetrate; since this calculation concerns the position of the sun throughout various times of the day and year, the angle would of course be specific to particular locations.

The siting of a building plays a large role in its passive solar properties; builders generally take the sunlight into consideration when determining the size and orientation of a given facade, using the angle of a building to enhance or reduce the amount of sunlight that penetrates. The structure's overall shape, as well as how it fits into the landscape substantial portions of a structure may be fully or partially below ground, for example' also makes a difference in how passive solar can be used to advantage. Architects and builders have been aided in recent years by the development of new materials designed to absorb or reflect varying amounts of radiated heat.

Alternative Energy is a crucial link in our energy future if we are to cut the oil cord. We present thoughts, ideas, info and news about alternative energy at Alternative Energy HQ - http://alternativeenergyhq.com

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A Glance At North American Iguanas

It is a known fact that most iguanas and lizards are fond of the warmer climates and in that respect; there are not a lot of different species of North American iguanas. There are a couple of different species that live in the very south western areas of Canada as well as several species that live in the western coast of the United States however, they are not as abundant as the variety you would find somewhere sub tropical such as Africa and the favorite iguana breeding ground, the Galapagos Islands. With this in mind, lets set out to discover what North American iguanas offer us in the way of variety on this continent.

The North American Iguanas Diet

The diet of the North American iguana is typical of most land iguanas however they lack the algae and other essential life giving items that their cousins in the tropical areas get to experience. The North American iguana typically feeds on other small creatures such as easy insects such as ants. In fact, the North American iguana has such an amazing strategy to catch the insects that they are often found completely burrowed in the sand with only the head sticking out.

The North American iguana aside from feeding on ants will occasionally get a cricket or grasshopper however; these are a rare treat because of the climate that they live in grasshoppers are not available all year long. It is an adaptation effect of the North American iguana to become used to eating crickets in the summer and ants as well as other tiny insects for the rest of the year.

North American Iguana Physical Features

There are a number of tell-tale characteristics that will tell you that you have a North American iguana because unlike many other species of iguana, the type that live in a compromising climate actually experience a stunt of growth and only grow to be around three to six inches in length with a thin tail and short legs and neck. This is the type that you would typically find west of the Mississippi River in the United States as well as in the very southern most areas of Canada.

These reptiles are generally colored in a way that will allow them to blend in to their environment and it is common to find them in dark greens and browns. They sometimes can be found with spines on their sides and back as well as on the head.

to learn more about Iguana's please visit http://www.iguanainstitute.com/iguana/

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Corrosion in Metals - Principles and Prevention

Corrosion is the tendency of metals to return to their natural condition, abandoning their current one, that is: the destruction or deterioration of a material because of chemical and/or electrochemical reactions.

A chemical reaction or dry environment reaction can occur by the contact with vapors or gases, without the presence of liquids. With frequency, the dry environment reaction is closely associated with high temperatures.

A electrochemical reaction or humid environment reaction, is present in liquid atmospheres, by sprayed or immersed means.

Corrosion processes tend to return materials back to a more thermodynamically stable state by their combination with substances in the environment, particularly with oxygen. It is from such a state that the materials were transformed through the metallurgic process of extraction and refinement, by the means of the supply of electric, chemical or heat work.

The most widely used metals for technology have a great affinity for oxygen and their corrosion process depends exclusively on the phenomenon denominated oxidation. Some metals are more prone to oxidation than others.

For example: metals like gold or platinum hardly oxidize because of their low affinity with oxygen. They are known as noble metals. Other metals as iron oxidize easily due to their high affinity with oxygen.

Classification

The electrochemical nature of corrosion leads to diverse forms of assault. These are determined by the succession of a series of environmental, mechanical and geometrical factors. The identification of the form of corrosion is of vital importance for the diagnosis of the cause that determines the corrosive process, as well as the prevention, control, and protection of the element.

According to this, the corrosion classification goes as follows:

- Generalized corrosion

- Localized corrosion

- Selective corrosion

Generalized corrosion affects the whole surface of the metal and translates into a more or less rapid slimming of the metallic wall in contact with the electrolyte. Depending on the uniformity of the superficial attack, it can be differentiated into generalized uniform and generalized not uniform corrosions.

Localized corrosion affects a limited part of the metallic surface and causes cavity formation. These cavities, depending on their external diameter vs. depth relation, are named ulcers, craters, pittings, or criccas. The pitting or punctures, can sometimes be penetrating. The cricca or fissure can be intergranular or transgranular, depending if it follows the edge of the grain or through it.

Selective corrosion produces the preferential dissolution of a certain part of the metal that, for chemical or metallographic reasons, proves to be more easily attackable.

We can speak of cristalographic, intergranular or interdendritic corrosion, if the corroded material results in certain crystalline species in the grain borders or the immediately adjacent zone.

Another form of selective corrosion, the dealloying, happens when the preferential dissolution of one of two components of an alloy is verified, leaving an inconsistent and frothy residue of the other metal in the alloy.

Methods of control and prevention:

The general methods for corrosion control more widely accepted on the industry are: the use of special construction materials resistant to corrosion, the application of inert barriers as paint, the use of methods of cathodic or anodic protection, the adjustments on the electrolyte or corrosive mediums chemistry, the application of specific inhibitors to control corrosion, and the application of anticorrosive systems.

An anticorrosive system is made up of two components which form a set. This set works as a barrier that controls oxidation and prevents the attack of external factors.

The components of an anticorrosive system are:

- Firstly, the base or primer, whose function is to provide the system with the sufficient adherence to the substrate and to act as a cathodic corrosion inhibitor (because of its high proportion of zinc).

- The finishing, which consists of a film or layer that complements the system and provides a high resistance to the attack of the environment.

The information for this article about metal corrosion was provided by Sika Mexico Plant. Sika is a world renowned manufacturer of specialty chemicals for the construction and manufacturing industries. For more info visit http://www.sika.com.mx

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